For those who can’t abide conventional biopics, here’s a viable alternative: A Room And A Half, a fantastical, imaginative depiction of the life of Nobel-winning Russian poet Joseph Brodsky, assembled over the better part of a decade by animator Andrey Khrzhanovsky.

Russian-Jewish-American poet, and Nobel Prize Laureate, Joseph Brodsky was expelled from the USSR in 1972. He often fantasized about returning to Mother Russia, specifically his home town of St. Petersburg, the cultural capital. Director and co-writer, Andrey Khrzhanovsky has set off an imagined what-if journey where Brodsky actually made the trek back. By combining fantasy, newsreels (both real and fake), and truly whimsical animation, he almost succeeds in his quest.